Customer Reviews

M83

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is reportedly a re-release of their first album from 2001, which didn't get very wide distribution at all. It's also a much different beast from Before the Dawn Heals Us. First of all, there are no proper vocals in any of the tracks -- only snippets of dialogue and a computerized voice popping up here and there. Where Before the Dawn felt like a blend of pop rock and retro electro, this veers more towards experimental mood noodling, with the last track clocking in at over seventeen minutes as they meander from one sound scape to another.

There's nothing that feels like a proper song -- which isn't a bad thing necessarily, it's just not nearly as gratifying as Before the Dawn (or Dead Cities, for that matter). They take more stylistic risks with less ambitious instrumentation, but it doesn't have that spacey soulfulness that they've managed to cultivate since this album was recorded. If you simply must have more M83, then you'll probably find something to like here, but don't come crying to me if you feel a little confused and disappointed.

Looking to try out some M83? Try this first. Excellent synth sounds, dreamy rhythms. By far the best of three albums released to date.

M83, the eclectic French group who startled the musical world with its breakthrough album "Dead..," twirl fantastically in this release of early tracks, with less polished and more thought-provoking assaults on pop sensibility. At times nostalgic, at times brilliantly vicious, this album is candy to both the M83 faithful and the uninitiated, those who stumble upon the band in a quest for good computerpop. I cherish "Dead.." as challenging and care about "Before the Dawn," though it's simpler, less melodic and less startling. "M83" is, in my mind, M83's best work.

The songs mount from gently rolling pastoral soundscapes to peaks of ecstasy. Sharp in its audacity and fluent in subtlety, M83 got it right the first time. Expect something philosophical, emotional, raucous, and ultimately uplifting; expect gorgeous epiphanies with hollow, degraded undertones, and piercing thoughts demanding recompense for a life of easy victory as bland as coleslaw. Its "Fitter, Happier" meets Four Tet in a 19th century dive bar. Perfect for a night of bloody knuckled wine drinking by the fireplace.

M83's eponymous debut showcases all the melodic skill and dynamism that made their later albums so powerful, even if it doesn't have same polish or emotional depth. But, as an introduction, it shows what's to come. "Night," with its combination of rock growl and electronic backing, has all the hallmarks of their incipient grandeur. Their predilection for epic soundscapes becomes apparent on "Facing That" and on the quietly majestic "Carresses." The simple, elegant "Violet Tree" slowly comes to a grinding finish, while "Slowly," the only track with a 4/4 beat, wells up out of nowhere to pound some club energy into the album. Even the weaker tracks show some promise, like the dark country-western electro vocoder of "Kelly" or the meandering "She Stands Up." The glorious "I'm Happy, She Said," has an elegant sweep and build to it... a grand harbinger of the future.

In the beginning, there were two members of M83 - Nicolas Fromageau and Anthony Gonzalez. The band's debut is high on intensity, diverse in mood and colorful in arrangement. It belongs at the top with the great albums of the Electronica genre. While Electronica admittedly has few albums that could be called masterpieces, the outstanding ones do hold their own against any other genre. Classics like Moby's "Play," Deep Forest's debut, Deep Forest's "Boheme" and even Sigur Ros's "Von" are now joined by this work by Fromageau and Gonzalez.

M83 is different from most Electronica acts because of their commitment to musical exploration, while artists like Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Boards Of Canada and Dirty Vegas seem focused solely on finding new rhythms and beats for the dance floor. Nothing wrong with creating dance music; however, don't expect the majority of the stuff you hear on a dance floor to have much depth and longevity once you leave the club and head for home. The emotional layers found on this debut are extremely rare in a music scene dominated by throbbing drum machines and trippy synth-bass lines.

Highlights include the stutter-speak found on "Kelly," the perfect dance anthem "Sitting," the echoing radar on "Facing That" and the unforgettable serenity of "Carresses." The North American re-release includes a solid bonus track called "Slowly." It has been pointed out that the song titles can be put together to form a sentence, which is certainly true. The band seems quite fond to do that since it could be argued that their next two albums also share this same approach albeit to a lesser extent. There is a hidden track on the North American re-release that is worth a listen as well. I am not a fan of the practice of hiding tracks in general, but this is a fifteen-year-old fad that is here to stay.

M83 would later evolve into a Dream-Pop band, but they began with Electronica. While Fromageau departed from the band in 2004 reportedly because of his dislike for touring, Gonzalez has continued to make music with the assistance of studio musicians no longer relying on drum machines, samples and sequencers. The sky is the limit for Gonzalez considering his latest masterpiece, "Before The Dawn Heals Us." This album is highly recommended for those seeking more heart for their dance floor.

This fine warm up to what would become the full-bodied embrace of their synthesized sound cannot quite capture the production depth of future releases but still comes across as a very competent amateur release.

After purchasing this album @ my local record store I saw that the release year was 2001/2002. However, this CD is new as of Sep. 05. Maybe in France it was released then. But rest assure this M83 album is far better than Dead Cities and Until The Dawn. It maybe simpler in production but I compare this M83 sound to Aphex Twin. Now dont get me wrong, this is like an un-gabbered Twin sound a whole lot more organized close to the Krafterk level. Being an avid listener to techno synth pop this is abstract yet organized a must buy if you are an electronca fan.

Has anyone else notice that the song titles form like a sentence or a mini story.

I was a little disappointed in this album, because it seemed like a step back from their previous. "Before the Dawn Heals Us" is an incredible album, and the one to buy if you're new to M83. This album is much less focused, and loses the intensity they established in "Before the Dawn..." It would make sense, however, if this is an earlier album newly released in the states.